1. Field
This field relates to supporting articles while the articles are being attached to a structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A challenge of component manufacturers, especially with respect to rack mounted components, relates to holding one or more components in one hand, aligning holes located on the components, and placing and screwing a screw with the other hand.
It is desirable to avoid employing two people to perform assembly operations at a given assembly station. However, two people are often needed so that one person can hold the components and align the holes while the other person can aligned the screw and operated the screw driver to screw the screw through the holes to attach the components to one another. This is exacerbated when the weight or dimensions of the components is increased, making it increasingly difficult to hold and align the holes with one hand. Assemblers and others have attempted to overcome this issue in various ways.
One solution that enables one person to attach the components to one another without assistance is to hold the components together and use a spring clamp to temporarily hold the components to one another. Once the spring clamp is in place, the assembler uses one hand to align the screw and the other hand to screw the components together. One obstacle faced by this solution is that components may be of various size, shape, and weight that may make it difficult to find a suitable place for attaching the clamp. For example, if a flat square panel is to be affixed to an angle bracket through a hole in the center of the panel, a clamp would have to have very long jaws to extend across the panel surface to the place where the bracket is to be affixed. One person could not easily hold the components together and operate a clamp of this size. Another obstacle faced by this solution is that greater spring tension is needed in the clamp to hold heavier components together. Increased tension in the spring clamp again makes it increasingly difficult for a single person to operate. In addition, in a manufacturing setting, injuries could result from repetitively engaging a clamp with sufficient tension, thus frustrating the efficiency and productivity goals of the manufacturing operation. Finally, slippage between the components can occur when components are heavier or when more than two components are clamped together and component surfaces are smooth, oily, or otherwise slippery.
Another solution is a holding means which temporarily holds the fastener in place while being fastened. Such a solution could be as simple as a piece of masking tape placed over the hole in the first component and the screw inserted through the masking tape to hold the screw temporarily while the components are being aligned. Solutions also exist for holding small fasteners which, because of their size, are difficult to grasp with fingers and either strike with a hammer or engage with a screw driver. One difficulty with using a temporary holding means is that the holding means does not assist in keeping the components together, so the assembler still needs to manually align the holes on the various components before engaging the fastener. The alignment of the holes is further frustrated by the fact that the holding means might block the view of the holes. Accordingly, a fastener is needed which can quickly be inserted through the holes of components and temporarily support the assembly until a screw is inserted into the fastener to provide increased strength and support.
FIGS. 1A-1C depict components used to assemble components of a rack mounted computer system. FIG. 1A depicts nut plate 110 which includes a plurality of threaded apertures. FIG. 1B depicts recessed slide 120 which, as shown, is about to be fastened to a portion of rack 150 using nut plate 110 and screw 170. The rack 150 further includes rail edge 160 which contains a plurality of apertures for attaching recessed slide 120. Recessed slide 120 is first attached to mounting bracket 130 which includes a flange 140 for attaching the mounting bracket 130 to rack 150. FIG. 1C illustrates the components in an assembled state with screw 170 attaching rail edge 160 to flange 140 by engaging threads within an aperture of nut plate 110 (not shown).